Posted by: Chris Vannini on November 7, 2012

With the recent announcement that Joker Phillips would not return at Kentucky, the focus is turning to current coaches who could be his replacement.

Florida offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brent Pease addressed the issue Tuesday, and David Cutcliffe was asked about it Wednesday.

The Duke coach was targeted by Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart a decade ago, but decided to stay at Ole Miss. On the ACC coaches teleconference, Cutcliffe wasn't directly asked about the job, rather, asked how he would handle the rumors with his players.

"I don't really have a planned message," he said. "I haven't to this point felt the need to bring it up to them.  But we're totally focused on what we're doing at Duke, and have no interest in talking about anything else otherwise. I think our players trust me in that regard and know that's a sincere statement.

"So I would leave it at that. ... We love where we are and what we're doing. We have an incredible relationship with what we hope our potential players are in the future. So we feel very strongly about that."

The Blue Devils have a bye this weekend, and it comes at a good time. Despite having an 8-0 edge in turnovers in the last two games, Duke lost both by a combined score of 104-27.

"I (told my team) I'm going to start a new lecture circuit, turnover ratio doesn't matter," he said. "It's an amazing statistic. To go plus-four in two games that we basically get blown out. There are a couple of things there. One, they occurred and it wasn't as hurtful. People weren't turning it over backed up.

"The other is it proves the old action. I don't mean to make the breaks, but when one comes your way, score.  And we haven't been able to score off turnovers.  So it's not the turnover itself, it's what you do with it."

You can listen to the teleconference by clicking here. Below are highlights of last week's loss to Clemson.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com